Moments that changed the course of the 33rd race of the 2014 season
EARNHARDT JR. FINALLY GETS HIS CLOCK
Dale Earnhardt Jr. used a bump-and-go move against Tony Stewart with three laps remaining and drove off to win the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Playing the role of Chase buster, Junior held off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon for his first grandfather clock at the 0.526-mile track.
Gordon finished second as the HMS drivers were 1-2 just days after the 10-year anniversary of the Hendrick plane crash that took 10 lives. The Hendrick drivers were displaying a decal on their cars in rememberance of those who lost their lives.
The win at Martinsville was Junior’s first, though the driver came close with second-place finishes there in 2011 and 2008, and it was a fitting parting gift for outgoing crew chief Steve Letarte, who will leave for the NBC broadcast booth after the 2014 season.
Gordon was the top Chase finisher and was followed across the start/finish line by Ryan Newman, Stewart and Joey Logano on a wild day of racing that featured several wrecks.
Other Chase finishers were: Matt Kenseth, sixth; Denny Hamlin, eighth; Carl Edwards, 20th; Brad Keselowski, 31st and Kevin Harvick, 33rd.
KENSETH SPINS HARVICK, SENDING NO. 4 TO THE GARAGE
Crew chief Rodney Childers wasn’t worried about Kevin Harvick‘s ability to drive up through the field for the 33rd starting spot Sunday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway. He was simply concerned about being caught up in the tightly contested action prevalent on the snug .526-mile circuit.
The spirited drive into contention happened as predicted, but so did the action.
Harvick’s hopes for a first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship took a severe blow Sunday in the Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500, when a chain-reaction crash sent his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Chevrolet looping into the Turn 1 wall. While the wreck didn’t end Harvick’s day, the substantial time spent in the garage for major repairs left him 41 laps off the pace when he returned to the track to finish out the first event in the three-race Eliminator Round in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
Harvick was running sixth in the 227th of 500 laps when trouble erupted behind him. Matt Kenseth‘s No. 20 drifted high out of the groove in Turn 1, clipping the left-rear fender of the No. 4. Harvick’s car came to rest pointed in the wrong direction and limped back to the garage.
The whole Stewart-Haas operation gave the car an all-hands-on-deck treatment, with vice president of competition Greg Zipadelli and crew members from teammates Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick pitching in to replace the radiator, patch the rear-end damage and remove the splitter, hood and front fenders.
Harvick soldiered on at reduced pace, but was running competitive enough lap times to give Kenseth fits in the 365th lap. Harvick made it extra difficult for his rival to pass, then brake-checked him at the exit of Turn 2 to damage the front of Kenseth’s Joe Gibbs Racing entry.
While Harvick’s title hopes are not extinguished, his chances of advancing to the Sprint Cup Championship on the basis of points have become increasingly difficult. He can also clinch a shot at the championship in the Nov. 16 finale by winning either of the Eliminator Round’s two remaining races — at Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.
Harvick is winless in 23 career starts at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth track, but he has been dominant in the desert with five Phoenix victories, including three of the last four races at the Arizona mile.
VICKERS GETS REVENGE ON KAHNE
Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers exchanged bumps — and their cars exchanged bruises — throughout the first half of Sunday’s Goody’s Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway before the NASCAR tower put an end to it.
Kahne’s day still ended early from a wreck, although Vickers had nothing to do with it. Kahne was caught up in a five-car incident on Lap 438 that began when Brad Keselowski‘s car dropped speed suddenly, with Kahne getting caught up in the wreckage.
Still, it was the No. 55 Toyota on Kahne’s mind when the Hendrick Motorsports driver was checked out of the infield care center.
"I was passing him and he ran me into the Turn 2 wall, or he was going to, so I lifted and he blocked into 3, so I turned to go low and then he comes low," Kahne said of their Lap 161 incident. "So, he spun himself out. I think he thought I had spun him out. I was just trying to get by him. I tried right, I tried left. He was using every lane.
"I don’t really understand why he was so mad. I was surprised when he spun me later, that he was even mad at me."
Vickers hit the wall and was forced down pit road after that tap, the first of three incidents between the two drivers.
"He just turned you," Vickers’ spotter said over the radio after that first instance.
The Michael Waltrip Racing driver would repay the favor on Lap 222 and follow it up with a bit of faux concern — and incredible sarcasm — over the radio.
"The car just went straight when I got down to (Turn) 1," Vickers mused. "Be sure and check that splitter. Something must be wrong."
Kahne’s car was fixed, and he made his way through the field until he was behind Vickers again in Turn 1 on Lap 279 — in which he promptly spun Vickers in an incident that also involved Keselowski, who did not incur significant damage.
"Alright, we owe him another. We can do this all day long," Vickers radioed to his team.
Not quite.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Managing Event Director David Hoots radioed to "tell the 5 and 55 it’s over. It’s done."
Kahne’s day was officially done exactly 160 laps later. He was scored in 40th
"It was a bad race for us," Kahne said. "It wasn’t a good race. It hasn’t been a good year."
